Hunter takes up chair at Kiltwalk charity

Sir Tom Hunter’s right hand man will take over as temporary chairman of Kiltwalk, the children’s charity that was embroiled in a dispute over the distribution of funds.

Ewan Hunter, no relation, is chief executive of the tycoon’s Hunter Foundation.

In the past three years Kiltwalk has raised more than £ 4.7 million, but four charities – CLIC Sargent, Cash for Kids, Aberlour and Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Friends Foundation – withdrew as official partners earlier this year and its chief executive stepped down a few weeks later.

The 2013 accounts showed more was spent on costs than went to charity, though there is no suggestion of any wrong-doing.

After the rest of the board stood down Sir Tom stepped in as interim chairman and will head a new board of trustees. His Hunter Foundation has invested long-term support.

He said: “The Kiltwalk is a fantastic concept for raising much needed funds for Scotland’s children’s charities and has our absolute support.

“We intend over the next couple of months to redefine and improve the model, building on the foundations already in place, to maximise returns for charities and turbo-charge Scotland’s Kiltwalkers for 2016.”

Michael Ure, outgoing chair, said: “The retiring board of Trustees leave safe in the knowledge that after what has been a turbulent period, we are delighted to have secured the future of The Kiltwalk through the involvement of Sir Tom Hunter and the Hunter Foundation.

“We have overseen phenomenal growth and passion for The Kiltwalk since 2010 and look forward to this exciting new chapter, aimed at raising even more money for children’s charities across Scotland and, of course, our Scottish kids.”

The Kiltwalk’s new board includes a number of high profile figures including Sean Tracey, the former chief executive of Powerleague, Europe’s largest owner operator of five-a-side football centres.

Partner at EY, Mark Harvey and chief executive of the Hunter Foundation, Ewan Hunter, also join as Trustees.

Mr Tracey said: “Having spent the past 13 years as chief executive of Powerleague and building it into the premier small sided football company in Europe I was looking for an exciting opportunity to invest time into helping a great cause I’m delighted to have been asked to join the board. I think we can really build The Kiltwalk out to be a phenomenal success for Scotland and its children’s charities.”

Mr Harvey said: “I’ve been looking for a charitable cause that I am passionate about and one that I can make a meaningful contribution to since my daughter was treated for leukemia and when this came up I knew it was perfect. Knowing just how much children’s charities need this type of financial support makes this completely compelling for me.”

The new board will announce a number of innovations to The Kiltwalk for 2016 once the walks already scheduled for 2015 are completed. All past Trustees have now stood down from The Kiltwalk, however Michael Ure will support the new Trustees in an advisory capacity over the next couple of months.

* Daily Business is happy to have amended this article in accord with the Comment posted below.

1. Sir Tom Hunter is not taking over as temporary Chairman. The temporary Chairman is Ewan Hunter (no relation) who is CEO of The Hunter Foundation.

2. The 2013 Accounts require context. The comparison to be made is not one of Income versus Expenditure, but one of Sponsorship Funds raised versus Expenditure. That strips out elements such as Gift in Kind, which are not cash items but things like £200K worth of Sunday Post Media coverage.

The 2013 Accounts were the subject of a full OSCR enquiry, who confirmed that for every pound received by Kiltwalkers sponsorship, 68.4p was distributed to Children’s Charities and causes. The full report can be read here http://www.oscr.org.uk/media/1868/2015-04-17-inquiry-report-the-kiltwalk.pdf